are all damselfish the same?

[craqerjaq]

I've been doing some looking around to see what kind of damselfish I want to get for my first fish to make sure my tank is healthy. there are so many!!

I've been told they are hardy fish but are all of them? Some look better than others visually...some are kinda boring. So many choices...

Also is there any reason that different types of damselfish should or should not be mixed together? say like one of them blue ones and one of those 3 spot black and white ones. or should they be kept with their own specific species?

I want to get 2 to start and I have my choice from 2 different stores. Petco is only $3.99 per fish, the other is a privately owned (I think ) business with jacked up prices...I think they are either $6.99 or $7.99. Petco has mostly blue and blue with the yellow tail and a few others that look rather plain. the other store has the black 3 spot ones and at least the same as petco...and possibly some others I haven't looked closely since they got new fish in.

suggestions?

[Seige]

Your tank was a 26g right? Pick one that won't grow too big.

[Ninong]

Never purchase a damsel, or any other fish, just to see if your tank is healthy. Do NOT listen to any LFS employee who tells you that's a good idea.

Most damsels are evil. And that's the opinion of most people who already have them in their tanks. Just remember this, you will have an extremely difficult time getting them out of your 55-gal aquarium with all of that live rock after you realize that you are really, really sorry that you ever bought one. And that's all I have to say about that.

[craqerjaq]

well I don't want to spend a lot on a fish to have it die with no type of refund...

what would be recommended then? for someone new to the hobby and a fishless tank

[Seige]

clownfish. ;-)

[Ninong]

what would be recommended then? for someone new to the hobby and a fishless tank

I would recommend that you think about all of the fish that you would like to have, taking into consideration the size of your tank and the compatibiltiy of those fish with each other and with the other animals (corals, snails, etc.) that you expect to have in your aquarium.

After you have that list down, or at least in the back of your mind, you should consider which of those fish should be the first fish and which should be the last. What you don't need to do is add any fish to your tank just to see if it's "safe" or not.

If the aquarium has been set up for four or five weeks and the water parameters have been acceptable for at least the past two weeks, then it's safe for any of the hardy fish. Some fish are better added only after a tank is at least six months old and others -- many, many others -- cannot be added to a 55-gal tank.

[craqerjaq]

well one that I know I want for sure is the flame angel...the color is amazing! other than that I really don't know. I thought about one of those green mandarins...they just look sweet as hell. maybe some type of clown fish (too many to pick from). I know there are a lot that would get too big for my tank and I won't be upgrading for a number of years.

I'm limited for choices because my 2 options get their fish from the same vendor and the variety isn't the greatest. that and if I haven't seen it I wouldn't really know if i would want it or not...let alone know what can live with what. of the above mentioned...are there any housing issues?

I could use some more ideas that's for sure

and as for snails...the ones I have are tiny and I've recently discovered a second type but even smaller. I don't know if I should purchase some big ones from the store or not.

I know I won't be having corals or anything that will require a light upgrade because I simply don't have another couple few hundred bucks to drop on that...maybe next year. I just plan on starting with fish and seeing how that goes.

[Ninong]

A flame angelfish (Centropyge loriculus) would be nice. I wouldn't add one for at least another month or so. They are sometimes a risk with some corals. I would have one. In fact, I did have one in my 120.

If you like clownfish, add a couple of those first. Just get two young juveniles of the same species and you will eventually have a mated pair.

The mandarinfish require a lot of mature live rock loaded with live copepods. It's better to figure a minimum of 75 lbs of live rock per mandarinfish, and I wouldn't add one in a tank that is less than six months old. Your tank is a little on the small side for one of these guys.

Another inexpensive and easy to keep fish that you might want to consider would be a Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto) or maybe an Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani), but not both in a 55.



P.S. -- Find out if any of your local sources gets stuff from ORA. ORA sells captive-bred fish to LFS.

[craqerjaq]

oh yeah also one of these Nano-Reef.com - Fish Information - Firefish

so a couple clowns would work good as starters?

[craqerjaq]

do you have a good website that shows a lot of different species of fish? I wanna see more of what's out there without having to google search each fish individually.

[Ninong]

oh yeah also one of these Nano-Reef.com - Fish Information - Firefish

Did you read everything on that page? Maybe you should read all of it before adding this one to your list.

...so a couple clowns would work good as starters?

Yes.

[Ninong]

do you have a good website that shows a lot of different species of fish? I wanna see more of what's out there without having to google search each fish individually.

Here.

[Seige]

Here's another web site.
Saltwater Fish Species, Aquarium Fish Profiles

Firefish are jumpers so you should wait until your more experienced before thinking about adding one.

[Miquel]

Ninong has given you some great advice and I encourage you to take it to heart. As he said, beware of what the local fish store employee tells you. I once heard someone describe damsels as pugnacious and I think that describes them well. You cant go wrong with a nice clownfish

[denhay14]

Yeah I once heard a story from many people that the damsels killed all of their fish. In your case, since your tight with money atm, that wouldn't be a wise decision. Start off with the two clowns, they are really fun and hardy also.

[craqerjaq]

yeah I gotta figure out what kind of clowns to get....there are some black ones with just a little orange on the face that look cool...but it's gonna be a while anyway since I don't have a QT tank yet

[Seige]

yeah I gotta figure out what kind of clowns to get....there are some black ones with just a little orange on the face that look cool...but it's gonna be a while anyway since I don't have a QT tank yet

I believe those ones change to black over time so that spot of orange will likely turn black. They keep the white stripes though.

[craqerjaq]

running into a problem....

(from the QT procedure)
5. Don't attempt to quarantine multiple fishes.
5.a If you would like a pair of anemonefishes, for instance, either use two quarantine tanks or quarantine them one at a time. There's no rush and there's absolutely no need to put them into your display at the same time.
5.b One problem with putting multiple fishes through the same quarantine is that one fish can have a disease and give it to the rest. Now you're treating fish that weren't ill to begin with. Or. . .The nightmare: Every fish in the QT can have a different disease or condition and they require different treatments. It's not worth the trouble, risk, or likely loss.
5.c Another problem is that putting multiple fishes through quarantine defeats many of the above listed benefits of using a quarantine process. Check out that list. Which of the listed benefits of using a quarantine process would be lost if multiple fishes were in the QT?


if I'm supposed to start with a pair of clown fish how exactly do I do that. I don't have 2 QT tanks nor the equipment for it and really don't want to be buying another tank for that. what do I do? only get one fish and then 2 months later get the "pair" fish...that doens't really make sense to me. insight?

[Seige]

Maybe you can borrow a tank. Sometimes a friend has a tank in storage.

Otherwise, if they are the same species and from the same supplier tank I'd just quarantine them together.

QT is approx 4 weeks not 2 months. 4 "Healthy" weeks...

[craqerjaq]

I understand the 4 weeks part but for setting up a qt the directions say:
"The sponge filter should be in the display system (e.g., sump) and running all the time to be seeded with nitrifying bacteria to be the biological filter for the QT. It takes about 4 to 8 weeks for the sponge to be ready to serve as the QT biological filter."

I don't have this filter thing yet...and since my tank is void of fish is the QT still necessary? I don't quite understand that whole procedure.